Hi Nilo,

I too keep Excel spread sheets. As a matter of fact when I saw my new neuro,
he was so delighted with it that he
just became absorbed in it and took notes.
He said, this is beautiful, I see this a lot with Engineers, I am a software
developer. But that is the only way to go.
I had one with colors for every fifteen minutees showing how I was feeling.
At any rate,  you are on the right track.

Mario


----- Original Message -----
From: "Nilo Sarmiento" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 12:34 AM
Subject: Diary of New Parkinson's Patient


> To all contributors to the listserv, thank you for the valuable
> service/support you have provided.
>
> On Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2001, I was "formally diagnosed" as having the
> symptons of PD. I say "formally," because I have had some symptoms for
some
> time, but whenever I saw my neurologist, he was not sufficiently convinced
> that the symptoms were those of PD.  Being 64 years old, going on 65, he
> felt that the symptoms could be those of old age (as brain cells die due
to
> age, the resulting  deterioration shows itself in the  symptoms that could
> be associated with Parkinson's).
>
> Finally, my wife came with me, and told my doctor all her observations
(she
> has done a lot of reading on PD, much more than I have!!).
>
> To make a long story short, the doctor prescribed sinemet the 25/100
> combination. His only directions were: take one tablet before a meal,
three
> times a day.   This was not the first time I had taken a prescription with
> such general directions.  And it was not until I began to actually follow
> those directions that I found them to be too general.  If there would be
so
> many variations in the times of my meals, how could I measure  the
duration
> of their effect.
>
>  From the literature that came with them. I learned that:
> 1. Sinemet works best when taken on an empty stomach;
> 2. Vitamin B6 interferes with the effectiveness of levodopa, when taken
> alone, but not when taken with carbidopa; and that some food have a good
> measure of B6 (bananas, egg yolk, meat, peanuts were specifically
mentioned.)
>
> Re "three times daily before a meal,"  absent any prohibition to the
> contrary, and in light of the specific note that sinemet works best when
> taken on an empty stomach, I decided to divide the 24 hours into 3
segments
> of  8 hours each , and I figured that at least for now, 7 am, 3 pm, and 11
> pm were my pill time.
>
> Re food, I am a banana nut and a peanuts nut... but I decided to give
> sinimet (and me!) the benefit of the doubt,and give it every chance to
> work: From here on, no bananas and peanuts, even though they might be OK,
> because of carbidopa. No multi-vitamin which has much as 300% DR of B6.
> This is part of my effort to eliminate any element considered a potential
> levodopa interferent.
>
> I decided to start a diary, in an Excel spreadsheet format; and I am doing
> all this as part of my own research. The reason for the 3 segments of 8
> hours, is to find out how long the effect of each pill lasts, or if it
even
> has any effect, positive or negative on any of the symptoms. I do not
> expect to see any noticeable improvement until at least a month on this
> regimen.   But the only way to determine improvement is for me to make
some
> detailed observations.
>
> As for my attitude, I have fully accepted the fact that I could have PD,
> and that I will need to work around it. As the Roman poet Horace would
say:
> Fit patientia quicquid est corrigere nefas
> This is echoed by the Serenity Prayer, which I am sure most of us know by
> heart:
> God grant me:
> Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
> Courage to change the things that I can; and
> Wisdom to know the difference.
>
> Here then are the hi-hlights of the first few days..
>
> February 27. Tuesday, I took the first pill just before lunch, and the
> second just before dinner around 7 pm.
>
> February 28,  Wednesday, I had my first pill around 6:30 am,  and realized
> that I did not have a pill for almost 12 hours.  I was not satisfied with
> that imprecision and disparity in the length  of time between the
> pills.  That's when I decided to divide the 24 hours  into 3 segments,
each
> 8 hours long, and the times.
>
> March 1, Thursday, second day, took  the pills within two minutes before
or
> after my pill-time, and I wait for around half an hour before I take any
> food...to give the pill the chance to dissolve and be absorbed into my
system.
>
> It is too soon to say, but I have not felt this good in the past month or
> so; so far, I have had none of the side effects, except what could be a
> "false sense of wellbeing" like what I just said. My urine is still
"clear"
> or not as discolored as I had anticipated.
>
> Note to members of listserv..
>
> I do not know if any of you are keeping a similar diary; how are you
> keeping it , and if it has served your purpose.    I had thought of
keeping
> such diary, just for my own use; when I finally got diagnosed, I wanted to
> find out in what way i could make a contribution to the group. It occurred
> to me that sharing the highlights with all of you might help.
>
> And so, before I continue to share my own findings, on a day to day basis,
> I would appreciate any feedback, from you.  If, for instance, you want to
> know what I mean by my keeping a diary in Excel format, let me know, and I
> shall attach a copy by next installment.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Nilo